The present invention relates to drying, filtering, and collecting liquid refrigerant in the high pressure side of a liquid vapor recirculating refrigeration system. Typically, in such systems, a device is interposed in the refrigerant line between the condenser and the thermal expansion valve or capillary tube for the purpose of removing moisture and foreign matter which could cause freezing and/or blocking of the flow upon expansion through the valve or capillary.
Heretofore, in providing receiver/driers for automotive air conditioning systems, it has been the practice to employ desiccant beads on the order of 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) diameter in a container such that the refrigerant flows through the desiccant beads into a collecting chamber and then is discharged from the collecting chamber by flow through a standpipe. The construction of the receiver/drier, which is typically formed in a cylindrical configuration of metal material has proven to be troublesome. Where it is desired to provide a filtering function in addition to the drying function, it has been required to provide filtering media adjacent the ports in the desiccant container in order to filter all of the liquid refrigerant passing through the desiccant container in order to filter all of the liquid refrigerant passing through the desiccant material. Because of the relatively high pressures on the order of 350 psi (2415 KPa), substantial forces are created across the desiccant and filter material, which has resulted in blockage of the flow openings in the desiccant container, and also increased weight due to the additional material required in the desiccant container to withstand such forces.
The additional forces created by the large pressure drop across the filter material has rendered to construction, assembly, and attachment of the desiccant container to the header or attachment plate a problem area in mass production. It has also been desired to find a way or means of containing the desiccant during assembly in a manner which prevents the beads from spilling from the container during the assembly operations.